I began 2024 as a casual RPG dabbler. I enter December as a hollow-eyed obsessive, forgoing sleep to grind a few more dungeons in a remake of a NES game from 1988. How did this happen?

The obvious answer would be that the sheer abundance of exceptional RPGs released in a short period was bound to convert some nonbelievers into frothing-at-the-mouth zealots. That I was a sandcastle standing before a tsunami. I’m tempted to agree. But what developers who specialize in the genre accomplished this year, collectively, is more interesting and complicated than scale.

My metamorphosis began in January with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

The latest entry in the Like a Dragon née Yakuza series is built upon my (formerly) least favorite genre of video game: the turn-based RPG. Why would I take turns managing a menu, I had once thought, when I could be walloping a dude with a street sign? I’m not alone. Many beloved turn-based RPG developers have switched to real-time action, hoping to appeal to impatient skeptics like myself.

But Infinite Wealth doesn’t align with my assumptions about turn-based RPGs. The combat is kinetic, giving me the freedom to move about during fights, positioning my brawlers to achieve the most action-movie-like sequence possible. Plus, I can give each team member a different job (Assassin! Gunslinger! Surfer!) and unleash a cornucopia of comic violence. Add a handful of beautiful open-world settings, an absurdly deep Animal Crossing parody, and some........

© Polygon